Decoy setup Questions

[CodyJ]

So here is the scenerio:

Field hunting mallards out of laydown blinds little bit of water in the field.
I have 12 new, high quality mallards field dekes,(8 drake, 4 hen), 2 mojo spinners (1 drake 1 hen), 6 full bodied flocked canada goose field dekes, 10 very old timey inflatable type mallard dekes (5 drake, 5 hen)(read very poor quality, essentially green head, brown and grey body), one pintail drake, and 2 blue winged teal.

My question is this:

Do we think the mixing and matching of the very realistic dekes, and the very un-realistic mallards will have a negative effect, or is a duck just a duck to the ducks. Because the two types look so different, I am wondering if mixing them together is a mistake.
I realize I have to try this for myself, which I will be doing tommorow, but I am wondering if anyone else has had a similar situation, and what the outcome was.

Also, as for the whole flock of dekes I have, what would you do with them? positioning, species proximity, distance, etc.

random questions on a stormy night.
thanks all,

Cody

[pnbrock]

this time of season you better be prepared to keep mixing to get wary birds to commit.

[tundra]

In my past experiences hunting the same way I would mix and match and set my flock up in a W arrangement with in pairs by this I mean a drake and a hen together just like a real flock tends to hang out. I would space the hens about 1 to 2 feet behind the drake and space the pairs out about 3 to 5 feet. This seemed to work really well for me. It took me a lot of trial and error trying to figure out which set up worked best. The patter was a V pattern with the same spacing. Hope this works for you and good luck.

[lorneparker1]

Well to answer your question, I bet a ton of ducks were killed over those old ugly things! Having said that, no shitty dekes go in my spread. Yes shitty is subjective, but I know if I had some dekes that were high quality out there and the ducks weren't working that would be the first thing I would blame. confidence is everything, so if you think they are flaring ducks, they probably aren't but if your not confident it will ruin your hunt. Separate them and see. You might be surprised all the Birds decoy to the old ones! lol

ITs always more about being in the right location and being hidden. Those will always super cede quality of dekes.

[CodyJ]

Thanks for the tips.

Tried mixing and matching yesterday, dont think I will do that again. The 2 different sets of mallards dekes look like 2 different species of duck, both in size and colour/detail. I think I will be better off to stick with the 1 dozen quality dekes, plus the spinners and canadas. The teal and pintail just looked confused and out of place.

Another question: where would you put the spinner ducks in your deke spread?

Cody

[SPEYMAN]

Look at the picture under Mallards in Season Pictures and reports.

[f350ps]

This time of year I put my Mojo about 40yds behind me, it works! Good luck, K